Shadows Of Science

• Soe Khant, Grade 9, John Paul College
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'Read Write Repeat 2015' competition

The halls were dark and empty. Gargoyles were built through the high ceilinged hallways. They were so high up the ceiling that they were hidden in the darkness. The rooms were lit with torches. The light reached out but had to leave areas unlit. Almost midnight. The rain heavily poured down on the University of Science. An old, brick buildings with gargoyles and turrets placed around the top.
BANG.
Thunder and lightning struck. The university was built in Othic, a small town in the Northern Territory of Australia. The rooms were silent except for some fast paced footsteps. Owen, a student of the University, who just finished his late, weekly cleaning, ran through the grey and dusty hallways full of lockers to catch up with his friend, Mat.
The two friends slowly walked just outside ‘the Science Discovery’ room. Red mist mysteriously invaded the air, penetrating the lockers. It covered the benches. It invaded the lockers. It surrounded Owen and Mat. It felt as if sand penetrating the skin, digging deeper and deeper. There was no sand. Just the mist. They were alone. Isolated. The thought of being the only ones in the building shocked them even more.
SCHHHHH.
Mat looked down as his heart almost leaped out of his body, his feet where… morphing! Changing. He had become sand, slowly piling up. Owen mouth dropped, his hearth pumped faster and faster. He was now truly alone. Mat was gone. He had vanished into the shadows. Owen saw his remains were levitating into “The Science Discovery” room.

Owen peeked into the room and to his surprise, he witnesses a transformation that would scar him for life. Mat’s sandy and grainy remains were dropped and absorbed into a beaker full of liquids on a lab table. It looked suspicious.
Why was it there?
It should have been in a storage. Suddenly eerie and disturbing bubbling came from the beaker. BLIRP BLIRP. Sharp, dirty claws emerged from the liquids.
SCREECH.
It was scratching the inside of it. Screeching tore through Owen’s ear. The beaker shattered releasing the liquid. The creature grew. Its eyes were red, bloodshot, as they glowed. Its nose made a loud grunting like noise. Chills vibrated through Owen’s spine as it grew into something terrifying. Short, grey fur appeared all over its body. The fur was not soft but hard, gritty, too hard to bend. Behind the creature was a small window, lightning struck through it and hit the beast. A large tail then grew on the beast — sharp and deadly. It got stronger as its muscles increased in size. Extremely sharp fangs grew in its mouth.

Owen felt goose bumps cover his skin. He looked away for a minute. Trying to process what he had just seen. He looked back. Gone. He heard a howl from the only available exit.
BANG.
CRASH.
An old gargoyle statue dropped down in front of the exit. It was too large to move. It was too late. Owen was now trapped.